Only seeing this on paper and my only reference is the goldfish video (I did watch the who thing) it appears you don't have enough reliable ways to trigger journey. You have 4 elders and 3 decays and a sliver. You kinda have to hope and pray to get there. I also feel you need fatal push over path as in a pinch you can push your guys to trigger journey.
I very much like commune with the gods. Card is super sweet and should see more play. However I think the thinking with grisly, satyr and elder is they all provide you a way to guarantee land drops or even ramp you. When the majority of your curve is sitting at 4 you kinda need that. I'm sure it can be worked around though. Satyr for instance is not particularly strong on it's own. Obviously, your build is less GY reliant with no unburial so i wouldn't consider him needed at all.
The biggest issue I see is this deck does basically nothing until turn 4. The curve is pretty awkward. No t1 plays, t2 you have some plays depending on the match and then what do you do t3? play journey and maybe get it to flip? Lets say it's t4 and you have 6 mana from journey and elder, what do you do and how do you stop any sort of combo or aggro deck, it's probably too late. There are so many lines this deck can take which I like but it has so very little disruption until it's pretty much too late. I'm talking only in reference to a large data set like a 16 round tourney. Obviously you have tools to stop people but you are banking on drawing perfectly.
I think if there's a way to lower the curve and make it a little more aggressive or super controlling I would be super on board. If I were to build a journey deck I would start with renegade rallierand work around him. That card has been bonkers for me especially when you can blink and recur him. GQ + rallier + gq is a real deal strategy. Heck maybe even a viscera seer could be solid.
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Modern: BG eldrazi midrange BWG Abzan value evolution BUG BUG Midrange
I'm not sure I need to add more cards (besides STE) to actively flip Journey myself as this is a value card here and would flip by itself eventually as creatures die.
Fatal Push would indeed be better if the intent is to trigger Journey but worse as a removal spell than Path if I need to answer troublesome creatures that Abrupt Decay (or blockers) can't handle.
Commune can find Journey unlike Grisly Salvage, that is why I made the change.
Hitting land drops is usually pretty consistent with 24x lands but Vessel of Nascency can be another option as sort of a middle-ground.
I disagree that the deck does mostly nothing until turn 4, it does interact early to slow down the game for the 4-drops to do their work later on. Tidehollow Sculler offers disruption and there is also Sin Collector as a 5th hand disruption creature.
There are also 6x removalspells (not counting N.Sliver) and 4x ramp spells in STE.
Combo is a concern and that is why I focused on cards that disrupt it like: S.Collector, E.Exarch and Gonti in addition to T.Sculler.
Post board there is more discard and Kambal (and Iona depending on the match-up).
Against Aggro I have a reasonable amount of removal (and sweepers post-board) and S.Rhino to stabilize my life total.
Maybe a maindeck copy of Orzhov Pontiff can help here, potentially over Necrotic Sliver which might be too slow.
I considered Renegade Rallier but it probably doesn't have enough good targets in the deck and would most likely be worse than Eternal Witness here.
A new idea for the deck's top end is Razaketh, the Foulblooded over Elesh Norn, it costs 1-more mana but can tutor all my 1x-ofs and is a stronger individual threat.
I'd like to see your deck ideas for a "low-curve" and "control" versions of the deck.
#As a baseline I took the "Abazn Rites" build from Mtggoldfish here - https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/budget-magic-94-48-tix-abzan-rites-modern
And modified it slightly by keeping the core (4x Resto + 4x S.Rhino) and replacing some playsets:
-4x Satyr Wayfinder, -4x Grisly Salvage, -4x Unburial Rites, -4x Inquisition of Kozilek.
+4x Sakura-Tribe Elder, +4x Commune with the Gods, +4x Journey to Eternity, +4x Tidehollow Sculler.
I wonder whether Vessel of Nascency can be better than Commune here as it can help find lands as well and add a turn 1 play to the deck.
#Then I decided to add some 1x-ofs to the deck (to take advantage of Resto and Aztal) in the place of Lingering Souls and Thragtusk.
I'm testing singleton copies of: Sin Collector, Necrotic Sliver, Ravenous Chupacabra, Gonti, Lord of Luxury and Entomber Exarch.
Other potential options can be: Eternal Witness, Orzhov Pontiff, Loxodon Hierarch, Kitchen Finks, Liliana, Heretical Healer,
Reclamation Sage/Qasali Pridemage/Thrashing Brontodon, Saffi Eriksdotter, Catacomb Sifter, Vengeful Rebel and Renegade Rallier.
I chose Elesh Norn as the top end in the deck as it is potentially "hardcastable" and helps close out games rather well.
Other options can be: Grave Titan, Sylvan Primordial (can remove any non-creature permanent), Wurmcoil Engine or Sheoldred, Whispering One.
Here is the initial decklist:
4x Sakura-Tribe Elder
4x Tidehollow Sculler
1x Sin Collector
1x Necrotic Sliver
1x Gonti, Lord of Luxury
1x Entomber Exarch
1x Ravenous Chupacabra
4x Restoration Angel
4x Siege Rhino
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Sorcery (4)
4x Commune with the Gods
Enchantment (4)
4x Journey to Eternity
3x Path to Exile
3x Abrupt Decay
Land (24)
4x Windswept Heath
4x Verdant Catacombs
2x Godless Shrine
2x Temple Garden
2x Overgrown Tomb
2x Shambling Vent
2x Stirring Wildwood
1x Gavony Township
2x Forest
2x Swamp
1x Plains
1x Acidic Slime
3x Fulminator Mage
1x Kambal, Consul of Allocation
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
4x Inquisition of Kozilek
3x Nihil Spellbomb
2x Damnation
I very much like commune with the gods. Card is super sweet and should see more play. However I think the thinking with grisly, satyr and elder is they all provide you a way to guarantee land drops or even ramp you. When the majority of your curve is sitting at 4 you kinda need that. I'm sure it can be worked around though. Satyr for instance is not particularly strong on it's own. Obviously, your build is less GY reliant with no unburial so i wouldn't consider him needed at all.
The biggest issue I see is this deck does basically nothing until turn 4. The curve is pretty awkward. No t1 plays, t2 you have some plays depending on the match and then what do you do t3? play journey and maybe get it to flip? Lets say it's t4 and you have 6 mana from journey and elder, what do you do and how do you stop any sort of combo or aggro deck, it's probably too late. There are so many lines this deck can take which I like but it has so very little disruption until it's pretty much too late. I'm talking only in reference to a large data set like a 16 round tourney. Obviously you have tools to stop people but you are banking on drawing perfectly.
I think if there's a way to lower the curve and make it a little more aggressive or super controlling I would be super on board. If I were to build a journey deck I would start with renegade rallierand work around him. That card has been bonkers for me especially when you can blink and recur him. GQ + rallier + gq is a real deal strategy. Heck maybe even a viscera seer could be solid.
Modern: BG eldrazi midrange
BWG Abzan value evolution
BUG BUG Midrange
Tiny Leaders: BW Athreos Zombies
Commander: BG Gitrog Monster
Fatal Push would indeed be better if the intent is to trigger Journey but worse as a removal spell than Path if I need to answer troublesome creatures that Abrupt Decay (or blockers) can't handle.
Commune can find Journey unlike Grisly Salvage, that is why I made the change.
Hitting land drops is usually pretty consistent with 24x lands but Vessel of Nascency can be another option as sort of a middle-ground.
I disagree that the deck does mostly nothing until turn 4, it does interact early to slow down the game for the 4-drops to do their work later on.
Tidehollow Sculler offers disruption and there is also Sin Collector as a 5th hand disruption creature.
There are also 6x removal spells (not counting N.Sliver) and 4x ramp spells in STE.
Combo is a concern and that is why I focused on cards that disrupt it like: S.Collector, E.Exarch and Gonti in addition to T.Sculler.
Post board there is more discard and Kambal (and Iona depending on the match-up).
Against Aggro I have a reasonable amount of removal (and sweepers post-board) and S.Rhino to stabilize my life total.
Maybe a maindeck copy of Orzhov Pontiff can help here, potentially over Necrotic Sliver which might be too slow.
I considered Renegade Rallier but it probably doesn't have enough good targets in the deck and would most likely be worse than Eternal Witness here.
A new idea for the deck's top end is Razaketh, the Foulblooded over Elesh Norn, it costs 1-more mana but can tutor all my 1x-ofs and is a stronger individual threat.
I'd like to see your deck ideas for a "low-curve" and "control" versions of the deck.